The Telephone Timeline

Bell receives U.S. Patent 174,465 on March 7, beating Elisha Gray's caveat by hours.

Bell, Gardiner Hubbard, and Thomas Sanders form the Bell Telephone Company in Boston.

A line is strung between Charles Williams' electrical shop in Boston and his home in Somerville.

The New Haven District Telephone Company opens the first commercial switchboard with 21 subscribers.

Edison's carbon button transmitter vastly improves voice quality, making long-distance conversation practical.

Bell Telephone reorganizes as American Bell, consolidating patents and operations.

A 45-mile line connects Boston and Providence, Rhode Island.

American Bell acquires Western Electric, establishing it as the exclusive manufacturer of Bell System equipment.

American Telephone and Telegraph Company is incorporated to build and operate long-distance lines.

Kansas City undertaker Strowger patents the first automatic telephone exchange, eliminating the need for operators.

The first automatic exchange using Strowger's step-by-step switch opens in La Porte, Indiana.

The expiration of Bell's fundamental patents opens the door to thousands of independent telephone companies.

Over 80 independent companies form within a year of patent expiration, bringing competition to local service.

The company reorganizes to manufacture automatic switching equipment and telephones.

Upright desk telephones with separate earpieces become the dominant residential design.

Competition explodes: by 1901, independents serve millions of subscribers in rural and urban areas Bell had ignored.

Michael Pupin's loading coil patent allows clear voice transmission over much longer distances.

Vail becomes president and launches the "One Policy, One System, Universal Service" campaign.

AT&T agrees to connect independents and stop acquiring competitors, avoiding antitrust action.

A 3,400-mile line connects New York to San Francisco; Bell and Watson recreate the first call.

Bell speaks to Watson from New York to San Francisco on January 25, 1915.

AT&T begins deploying dial telephones to subscribers, reducing the need for operators.

New York, Chicago, and other cities begin converting exchanges from manual to dial operation.

AT&T and Western Electric consolidate research into Bell Labs, which will become the world's premier industrial lab.

Commercial service begins between New York and London via radio, at $75 for three minutes.

French-style phones with transmitter and receiver in a single handset begin replacing the candlestick form.

Streamlined industrial design transforms the telephone from a utilitarian device into a styled product.

Henry Dreyfuss designs the iconic WE 302, the first truly modern desk telephone with combined handset.

AT&T deploys coaxial cable for simultaneous telephone and television transmission.

Western Electric converts to military production; civilian phone manufacturing suspended.

AT&T launches Mobile Telephone Service (MTS) in St. Louis, connecting car phones to the landline network.

Bardeen, Brattain, and Shockley invent the transistor, revolutionizing all electronics.

Dreyfuss redesigns the desk phone again; the WE 500 becomes the most widely produced telephone in history.

Customers can dial long-distance calls without operator assistance for the first time.

Western Electric begins offering the Model 500 in colors beyond black: ivory, green, red, yellow, blue, pink, gray, and white.

The first submarine telephone cable connects North America and Europe, replacing unreliable radio links.

AT&T markets the compact, lighted Princess phone specifically to teenagers and women.

AT&T's Telstar satellite relays the first live transatlantic television and telephone signals.

Push-button phones using DTMF tones debut at the World's Fair, replacing rotary dials.

The dial (or buttons) move into the handset for the first time in AT&T's sleek Trimline design.

The FCC rules that non-Bell equipment can connect to the phone network, breaking AT&T's equipment monopoly.

With the Carterfone decision opening the market, novelty and designer telephones proliferate.

Bell Labs demonstrates practical fiber optic communication, foreshadowing the end of copper networks.

AT&T and Bell Labs launch the Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS) trial in Chicago.

The U.S. government and AT&T reach the Modified Final Judgment, agreeing to break up the Bell System.

AT&T divests its local operations into seven Regional Bell Operating Companies on January 1.

Affordable 46/49 MHz cordless phones become common household items.

Phone companies roll out Caller ID service nationally, changing how people answer calls.

Major deregulation opens local telephone markets to competition for the first time.

U.S. wireless subscribers reach 86 million, far exceeding all early projections.